"Say that again, Deng Shun!" A regal man commanded unto his person.
"..." and same as the last, an inaudible whisper sent its message to one man alone.
"BANG!" a heavy hand pounded mercilessly once unto the immaculate right arm of his throne.
Several precious gems and stones that was once part of the pristine seat has now scattered beneath the feet of this regal man.
"How could Prince Zhang Mu die? I'm sure he has a flying sword in his possession!" The regal man asked into the open.
No matter how skilled the murderer was, as long as he was still in the Mortal Shedding Realm, there was no way that he could have slain somebody on top of a flying sword.
The speed difference was so vast that it was akin to an ant and a peregrine falcon. Unless of course if the killer also had a flying sword of his own.
"..." The same reporter did its job and with hushed lines, delivered the key information unto its liege.
"A brainless fucking child!" The regal man swore creatively unto the decaying dead after he got the answer of his queries.
"Where are they now, Deng Shun?"
"..."
"Okay. You may go. Keep an eye out especially for forces coming from Canta City. Inform me at once of any changes!"
"..." A faceless man covered with robes the colors of dusk replied briefly and disappeared thereafter into the unseen corners of the palace.
The regal man lapsed in uneasy silence but after the 30th breath, he finally halted his inner contemplation.
"Fu Ling!" The regal man softly called.
"Here, master." A fast shadow wriggled erratically in the brightened throne room then materialized in kowtowed form before his king.
"Kindly invite the Queen in here. Tell her nothing of what happened about the prince."
"Of course, master." Fu Ling bowed deep and quietly exited just like his predecessor.
'Ahhh... It's good that most of my children remained loyal to me.' The regal man smiled at his appreciation towards the kids that he had nurtured with his own two hands.
Fu Ling and Deng Shun were orphans that he cultivated since they were still young and green. They were a part of the King's men in the shadows and would undoubtedly sacrifice their lives if duty called for it.
This was the fruits of a wise man's foresight in this tumultuous inconstant world. The regal man has of course not included women in the list of his death warriors.
Not that he had any bias on that gender. Far from that instead because there were also strong female cultivators in Haran City whom this regal man admired profoundly.
It was only that women had an innate biological disadvantage that would make a lot of complications given the possible circumstance of childbearing.
Love and complex emotions would follow to make an already hard situation even more difficult.
Whereas it was different for men. They would lay seeds in every place they can and sail away to search for greener pastures. Most, if not all, were terribly practical and commonly irresponsible in that way.
'Saves me also the conflict of having jealousy to abound within the ranks.' The regal man laid in dormant thoughtlessness for a few minutes before his wait had finally finished.
"CREAK!" the large double doors of the room opened up to reveal a dazzling beauty untamed by time and tribulations.
"What's the matter, Ning Bao?"
"Is the celebration going to start yet?"
"Where's Xi'er and Prince Zhang Mu?" The lovely lady asked one after another. Her exquisite neck craned left and right to search the large halls but found no answers on sight.
"THUD!" the doors closed shut and that was when the King, Ning Bao, gave his reply.
"Xixi will be here soon, wife. Why don't you come and wait by my side?" Ning Bao smiled sweetly unto his estranged missus.
"Hmmmp." Alas, Ning Bao only got a cute show of derision thrown blatantly at his face as a reply. His relationship with Wan Fei had already soured some years ago.
Ning Bao would have wanted to fix the broken affection but it was after all a lost cause when only one plays a game that was initially created for two persons to tackle.
In the end, Ning Bao could only lament his fate in silence. Wan Fei sat on a throne beside Ning Bao's.
While the King's seat was catered for masculinity and courage, hers was superbly designed to exude a counterpart for that arrogant visage. The Queen's throne was slim and sexy.
Adored only by the most basic features of a noble chair. It did not even have a pair of throne arms but what it lacked in these faculties, it compensated in adequate style and perfect mixture of hues.
What came out was the feminine side of beauty. Elegant and confident in its uniqueness.
"Have you gotten drunk so early in the eve, old man?" Wan Fei commented after she passed by the unwanted debris on the otherwise spotless mirror like floors.
"Perhaps." Ning Bao looked intensely at his wife and realized that it had already been years since he last slept with this wonderful seductress.
Not that he had any reason to complain also because he had lots of young concubines to feed the animal inside him but it was of course always a different experience with Wan Fei.
They were once so in love and contented with what they have but after a spiritual mine has been found near the outskirts of the city, everything changed for everyone.
That discovery marked the advent of the Liquid Poison Sect unto the City of Haran and many lives were improved since then.
It was just sad that not all could say the same upon reminiscing the memories of that distant past.
"What are you looking at, Ning Bao? I'm sure nothing good could come out from that dirty mind of yours." Wan Fei appeared dismayed. It was the same look she ever gave Ning Bao over the years.
A perfect display of one's disappointment upon another.
"It's already been 11 years, huh?" Ning Bao smiled sadly. Wan Fei leaned back and dropped her gaze at her feet.
"Why bring a dead past at all?" Wan Fei whispered, still having no courage to reciprocate the intent gaze that her husband was giving her.
"Wife, if there was no spiritual mine in Lancaster and no Liquid Poison Sect to interfere with the olden ways of Haran, do you think things would be different for us today?"
Ning Bao asked but found no solace in Wan Fei's reply, another eternal silence.
"I kinda missed those days, Wan Fei." Ning Bao continued after 10 breaths and had a faraway look in his eyes, remembering a happy memory that was not anymore true in the present.
Silence reigned between the couple until Wan Fei was the one to break the stillness this time around.
"Thinking about something that's gone wouldn't make you feel better in any way, Ning Bao. You need to let the past go."
She looked at her husband whom she had shared her life with for more than 30 years already yet time has not left any of its traces unto his still youthful mien.
The two of them looked exactly the same when they were still at the ripe age of 18.
It was just unfortunate for Ning Bao that after the great change occurred, when the currency of the city turned from gold coins to spirit stones, so did the wishes of this beautiful madam.
The wanderlust was so strong in Wan Fei as she wanted to explore the vast skies and go to places she could only imagine.
And since her husband, Ning Bao, had a harem of his own, why can't Wan Fei settle for less also.
Her first target had been the owner of the Liquid Poison Sect's Pill Pavilion, Grand Master Gao Guanyu.
But Wan Fei could not stomach to sleep with such a man who took the guise of an elderly grandfather already.
If Gao Guanyu would have taken Eternal Youth Pills then that would have surely been a different story. Alas, the old man's income was all spent out in purchasing longevity pills and no other.
"Sometimes i wish that..." Ning Bao started but was not able to finish his thoughts.
"I have urgent news my Queen." a voice resounded before a voluptuous figure caked in mist and shadows knelt before Wan Fei.
"Hmmm... Go on, Yuan Lan."
Four minutes later and Yuan Lan's nubile body left again with only smoky dark shadows in her wake.
"So that's why you called me here. Prince Zhang Mu has prematurely passed away. A sad night for one so excited to claim our Xi'er." Wan Fei's blue eyes twinkled in humor.
She hated that boy for forcefully arranging an engagement unto her daughter from out of the blue.
Alas, this was a world governed by the stronger fist and so such hasty acquisitions were not entirely unfamiliar to Wan Fei.
It was only the fallout of such matters that triggered her dislike for exactly outcomes like these.
She and Ning Bao had the same mentality which in turn allowed or perhaps tolerated Zhang Mu's salacious endeavors towards their only daughter.
"Do you know who the man is?" Wan Fei asked after a beat.
"Deng Shun doesn't know him." Ning Bao replied.
"Oh... Of course, if your best spy could not put a head and a tail unto someone then that man must have come from somewhere else. A rogue cultivator perhaps."
"Maybe." Ning Bao agreed.
"But... I know my daughter well enough. Although that pretty head of hers is filled with notions of romance and fantastical love affairs, she won't entertain any man without my knowledge.
Still, you should know more than i since you probably had Xi'er monitored from dusk till dawn with how possessive you are, my husband Ning Bao." Wan Fei smiled at this point.
"Hmmm..." The regal King closed his eyes as if a man weary from a thousands battles.
'You never changed, Ning Bao. You are still the same weak man i know.' Wan Fei looked down on her husband's affection as no more than flaws.
If this was any other man, there was no doubt that most would have already forced themselves on her. But not Wan Fei's Ning Bao.
The prepossessing woman's gaze softened a bit as a little part of her still cherished the kind and doting husband that Ning Bao was.
This moment lasted only for a few breaths before it was once more covered by a deep craving for a more exciting life than the present. A life that Ning Bao could not anymore give unto Wan Fei.
There was really no stopping the zeal coming from one so ambitious.
The minutes tickled by and when the fifteenth minute arrived, the doors finally presented the most awaited guest of the night.
"WHOOSH!" an agile shadow welcomed the party and in a flash, another set of soft mountainous treasures was wantonly crushed unto a middle aged man's arm.
